Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-05-16
The Reverxion of the Repubii-
can Party.

The banquet given to Hon. Iheo-
dore Roosevelt in New York, the
other day, and the labored speech
of that gentleman, we're doubtless in
tended as an offset to Roscoe Conk-
ling's letter to the Pittsburgh Con-
yention. The Republican party has
been bit harder than it is ready
to admit by Conkling's contemptuous
arraignment. Judging from the tele-
graphic summary OF his effort, Mr..
Roosevelt has failed TO show any
great need for the continuance OF the
organization to which he belongs.
He laid the chief stress upon the
necessity of skill in handling the pro-
hibition question, and claimed that
the true policy of his party is to
favor local option in the country and
high license i'm the city. This is
virtually an admission that the pro-
hibitionists hold the future OF the
Republican party in their hands. As
they have themselves been of this
opinion for years past, and as they
have started on distinct policy OF
"rule or RUM as respects that organ
ization, it is hardly likely that Mr.
Roosevelt's panaces will amount &c
much in the way OF saving his party
from defeat and ultimate Gisintegra'
ton. The leaders of the prohibi'
tionists in most of the States are un-
com promising in their hatred of and
opposition to all temporizing meas
ures. They believe in absolutely
crushing out the traffic in all intoxi-
eating beverages, and in prohibiting
their manufacture. Blaine, during
the last campaign in Maine, was the
first of the distinguished Republican
leaders to see the importance of the
emperance problem to the Republi-
can party. He handled the question
with his usual skill, and Maine was
saved to the party, but the triumph
cannot be repeated on a large scale.
The prohibitionists are determined
to have their pound OF flesh, and
there is no Portia to rescue their VIC
tim. In fact, since the adjustment
of all the issues of the war, and the
admission even by John Sherman,
that peace and order prevail in the
South, the only thing with a shred
of principle left to the Republican
party is high protective tariff, for
projections sake. and this doctrine
will rally no considerable following
as long as the Democrats present
such admirable utterances on the
tariff rs charactized their last Ma
tional Democratic Convention. An
early surrender to the prohibitionists
would therefore seem inevitable. The
party has already lasted as long as
any other organization which was
ever in opposition to the Democracy.
As originally projected the Republi-
can party had strong flavor OF JEFF
fersonian Democracy. In its first
national platform, adopted at Pitts
burgn in 1856, it pretended to advo-
cate many of Jefferson's cardinal
tenets. II was opposed to centrali-
zation in the national government
and was solicitous to avow its re-
sponsibility to the people. About
the only pledges it ever attempted to
carry out were those relating to pro-
lection and slavery. The latter issue
has disappeared, while as long as we
have to pay the interest on the ma
tional debt, the heavy pensions aris-
ing from the war and the necessarily
other large expenses of the national
government, there is little danger
that the sound Democratic doctrine
of tariff for revenue with incidental
protection to American industry will
ever be departed from. Under the
circumstances it is hard to see why
the Republican organization SHOULD
be any longer maintained. Its mem
bership ought to be now, and proba
bly, will be shortly, divided up be
tween the Prohibition and Demo
cratic parties, and it is not in the
power Of Mr.. Roosevelt to arrest tht
disintegrating process.
ONE Of the striking features of Mr.